High Court Seeks Response of Delhi Police, Delhi Govt In Plea Over Bomb Threats In Schools

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Delhi Government and Delhi Police in a plea seeking a detailed action plan to deal with bomb threats in the schools to ensure safety and security of children, teachers and staff in the national capital.

Justice Prathiba M Singh issued notice on the plea moved by Advocate Arpit Bhargava contending that there is no action plan at present to deal with such incidents “which can cause havoc in anyone’s family and can have a large impact.”

The matter will now be heard on July 31.

The plea seeks preparation of the action plan to deal with “repeated incidents of bomb threats” in schools across Delhi. It also states that regular evacuation drill and other exercises must be undertaken for safety and security of children studying in schools.

Bhargava has relied upon an incident that happened in November last year where an email was received about a bomb in the Indian School which later turned out to be a hoax.

“Another school was targeted in a similar manner [in April] wherein some miscreant sent an email in relation to presence of bomb in DPS Mathura Road school premises thereby leading to chaos, mental and emotional trauma for one and all including the Petitioner whose child studies in the same school. However, thankfully, it again turned out to be a hoax,” the plea states.

It has been submitted that a mechanism needs to be in place to eliminate the chances of such incidents being repeated again.

Bhargava submits that if the children studying in schools are under repeated and constant threat, it is the collective failure of one and all to provide a safe environment

“Urgent need of the hour is to address the issue (s) raised in the instant petition without any further delay and to have a detailed action plan formulated in regard to such incidents of bomb threats in schools and implement the same in a time bound manner with detailed Standard Operating Procedures to be followed for one and all including regular evacuation drills involving each and every parent and child, automatic intimation in case of emergency instead of manual calling, streamlining process outside schools to eliminate chance of chaos and such other improvements,” the plea adds.

Title: ARPIT BHARGAVA v. GNCTD & ANR.